Police officers in the Central Region have picked up eight suspects in connection with the assault of police officers and the destruction of property at the Ekumfi Police Station in Mankessim.

The violence erupted after the police arrested a taxi driver who carried 10 passengers in his vehicle on the Winneba-Mankessim highway.

This infuriated the local youth who armed themselves with offensive weapons and attacked the Ekumfi Police Station beating up some police officers on duty in the process and releasing the driver from police custody.

Central Regional Police Commander, DCOP Paul Awuni, who addressed the press on Thursday, 4 October 2018, said the attackers, who were about 50 and armed with cutlasses, knives, sticks, and stones, stormed the police station “and subjected personnel who were on duty to attack”.

He said a distress call was sent to the Mankessim Divisional Police Headquarters which dispatched reinforcement teams to the scene.

“Based on intelligence that we had gathered on the attackers, we managed to cordon houses of suspects and arrested eight of the suspected attackers,” he said.

The Commander has also appealed to the public to volunteer information on the other suspects who are still at large.

DCOP Awuni said one of the policemen who sustained an injury is responding to treatment and has been discharged from the hospital.